A knife in the survival world is akin to a lifeboat on a ship that is sinking. A knife is everything. It can be what makes the difference between surviving in the wild and succumbing to the elements. Without a knife, life will be extremely difficult when you need to cut wood, clean an animal or cut lengths of cordage. Knives are easily lost or broken when you are in the wild. Ideally, you would want to make it a priority to keep your knife safe and in good condition, but things happen. If something does happen and you find...

You can’t discuss survival too long without getting into the need to discuss firearms. While there are survival situations where a firearm is not needed, most situations are best faced with a firearm in your hands. Many of the dangers you can face in a survival situation can be eliminated or at least reduced by having a gun at hand. At times, you may not even know the problems exist, because an adversary seeing your gun decides to go another way. Firearms provide the most secure protection available. While no firearm is guaranteed to keep you alive, they do provide...

I’m a bit of a tool collector. My garage isn’t really a garage; it’s my workshop. The only way my cars get to see inside it is looking through the door. With all I’ve invested in tools over the years, it would be easy to assume that I’ve got all the tools I need for survival. After all, I’ve got tools ranging from woodworking to auto mechanics, with a little machining and welding in between. However, the reality of a survival situation is much different than the reality of everyday life. The tools I have are mostly focused on being...

Building a shelter from the materials you can find is possible, but time consuming. It also requires having the right tools to work with. Yet, when I look at most people’s bug out bags, I have to wonder if their tool choices are really the best for what they need. There are three basic tools needed for building a shelter: A knife A hatchet A saw While most people carry a good knife, the tomahawk has largely replaced the hatchet for cutting wood. While the two are similar, a tomahawk is intended for use as a weapon. Therefore, it isn’t...

Not only is keeping a sharp edge on your knife’s blade important for the overall function of the knife, but it’s also important for your own protection as well. Applying force on a dull blade can lead to some serious injuries, and in a survival situation especially, an injury is the last thing that you want because even if you manage to successfully treat it, an infection could still set in and that’s a game changer in any survival situation. In this article, we will teach you how to sharpen your knife with only a whetstone. A sharpening stone of...